We’ve not heard a great deal from senior figures in Tokyo’s political establishment about Australia’s decision to partner with France for the SEA 1000 project. That all changed this week when CSIS’s Japan Chair Michael Green hosted a high-level, cross-party coterie from the Japanese Diet. The group, which included two of Japan’s former Defence Ministers and one former Foreign Minister, convened for a chat on thenext steps for US–Japan security cooperation—an engaging presentation on its own (1 hour 24 minutes). But what’s more compelling for Australian viewers is a Q&A exchange near the end of the event. Seehere for the question on our submarine decision, and hang tight for the (translated) smackdown answer that follows.

Dan Drezner’s latest includes a tasty morsel on the unseen 2011 tussle between Hillary Clinton and Tom Donilon as they sought to claim parentage of America’s new-and-improved Asia policy—the policy formally known as the pivot. Drezner then introduces a game that everyone can play at home: coining your own foreign policy doctrine. All you need is an adjective and a noun, with a ‘neo’ added to taste. Et voilà.

Donald J. Trump’s emergence aspresumptive victor in the Republican Party’s primary battle marked the denouement of a brutal and bruising period for the GOP. In response, a stunned commentariat has swiftly shifted gears to more urgently consider what Trump would mean for republicanism, conservatism, democracy, executive government, and America at home and abroad.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become a darling of the West since his elevation to the top job in May 2014. Barack Obama evenprofiled Modi for Time’s Influential People issue last year, which could be seen as an incredible about-face—Modi had been banned from the US for the preceding decade for‘severe violations of religious freedom’. A long-read feature from The New Republic takes a different tone to much of the commentary we’ve consumed on Modi, drawing on darkness to paint Modi as India’s‘silent, lonely, aloof, admired, and unloved leader’—the ‘anti-Gandhi’.

Lifelong learning is something we can get behind here at The Strategist, so we were keen to seethe launch of Brookings 101, a series of educational courses out from the famed DC think tank. There are four offerings so far, covering off US government debt, the Islamic State, Primaries and Politics 101 and Vladimir Putin 101. Get swotting—there’ll be a test later.

Finally, the Stimson Centre is runningan international student essay competition to encourage new thinking on non-proliferation of weapons of mass-destruction, in support ofUNSC1540. Up for grabs is a trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts, some cash and the chance to be published by Stimson.

Special Relationship is a shiny new podcast jointly-presented by British title The Economist and American ‘new media’ outfit Mic, focusing on issues and themes of the US presidential race. The first episode covers offterrorism and national security. We suspect that it’ll fast become a must-listen.

Video

The 2001 documentary First Kill is a sobering journey through the horrors of the Vietnam War and the challenges faced by vets upon their return to the US as they scrambled to process what they’d seen and done. War correspondents are also called on for their testimony, one of whom is Michael Herr, the author ofDispatches and a screenwriter for Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. The full doco isup on YouTube (1 hour 13 minutes).

Events

Canberra: Don’t miss the ANU’s Amin Saikal and Georgetown’s Cynthia P. Schneider in conversation with Mark Kenny on US Middle East policy under President Obama and the avenues that remain open to his successor.Here’s what you need to know about the 10 May event.

The AIIA’s ACT Branch has teamed up with the ANU’s Coral Bell School to pull together a strong panel to explore Myanmar’s political transition following the country’s historic November 2015 elections. Mark your calendar for 11 May, and registeronline for this free event.

Sydney: Head to the University of Sydney Law Schoolon 17 May to hear a discussion about how climate change and renewable energy policy is developing in China.

Author

David Lang is an analyst at ASPI and managing editor of The Strategist.